Latin Bible

Rudis

Member

Good day all.

It has been a while since I was here. I do hope you are all well.

I was thinking a good way to learn Latin is to read the Latin Bible because many people have the English version already. The King James Version is what I was thinking as the version being translated from the Latin one in 1604 - 1611. Which I downloaded the pdf.

What are your thoughts on this?
 

Rudis

Member

Oh yes... I forgot that there was more than one type. What kind of type would you think it is Vulgar or Ecclesiastical Latin?
 

Rudis

Member

I just researched that it's Ecclesiastical.

Would it be advisable to learn this form of Latin as a 'foot in the door' to classical Latin?
 
 

cinefactus

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Would it be advisable to learn this form of Latin as a 'foot in the door' to classical Latin?
It will engrain a number of bad habits which you will have to work hard to unlearn.
 
B

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If you want to learn classical Latin, I don't see why you wouldn't just learn it basic on classical works.

If you just want to learn *some* form of Latin, then by all means, read the Vulgata. Or better yet: Read whatever you find interesting (and if that's the Bible, then go for it). It's certainly better to read something than to ponder forever over what you should read.
 

Rudis

Member

It will engrain a number of bad habits which you will have to work hard to unlearn.
Kinda like someone learning "Street English" and then wanting to move over to Modern English of England. Am I correct in that statement?
 
 

Terry S.

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Good day all.

It has been a while since I was here. I do hope you are all well.

I was thinking a good way to learn Latin is to read the Latin Bible because many people have the English version already. The King James Version is what I was thinking as the version being translated from the Latin one in 1604 - 1611. Which I downloaded the pdf.

What are your thoughts on this?
The KJV NT wasn't translated from Latin but from the Greek Textus Receptus. I have a feeling that the OT was translated directly from Hebrew. I doubt if all the work done to recover knowledge of the Biblical languages in the Reformation would have been sidelined by the English Church. Have a look for an old (cheap) copy of the Douay-Rheims English version. It was done directly from Latin.
 

Rudis

Member

The KJV NT wasn't translated from Latin but from the Greek Textus Receptus. I have a feeling that the OT was translated directly from Hebrew. I doubt if all the work done to recover knowledge of the Biblical languages in the Reformation would have been sidelined by the English Church. Have a look for an old (cheap) copy of the Douay-Rheims English version. It was done directly from Latin.
Thank for this. I downloaded the pdf for that version. Now I have a Latin one and this one.
 
B

Bitmap

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Germans often claim that Martin Luther translated the Bible from the original languages Hebrew and Greek ... however, I think it's pretty apparent that whenever things got difficult or ambiguous, he simply went for the Latin version. At least that's what several different requests on this forum have shown me.
I wonder if the KJV did it any differently :D
 

Rudis

Member

Germans often claim that Martin Luther translated the Bible from the original languages Hebrew and Greek ... however, I think it's pretty apparent that whenever things got difficult or ambiguous, he simply went for the Latin version. At least that's what several different requests on this forum have shown me.
I wonder if the KJV did it any differently :D
Wikipedia says that it was translated by the Church Of England. It was catholic dominated back then, if I am correct. Latin is still spoken in churches.

So perhaps King James was sincere.
 
 

Terry S.

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Wikipedia says that it was translated by the Church Of England. It was catholic dominated back then, if I am correct. Latin is still spoken in churches.

So perhaps King James was sincere.
King James was the by-design Protestant successor to Elizabeth I. The CofE was definitely Protestant at the time.

Today, Latin is used in Catholic churches only where the Traditional Latin Mass is celebrated and a very few other places e.g. Pluscarden Abbey which is Novus Ordo but retains Latin.
 

Rudis

Member

King James was the by-design Protestant successor to Elizabeth I. The CofE was definitely Protestant at the time.

Today, Latin is used in Catholic churches only where the Traditional Latin Mass is celebrated and a very few other places e.g. Pluscarden Abbey which is Novus Ordo but retains Latin.
So to truly answer if it is indeed translated properly would be if yourself or someone else of high Latin knowledge were to download the Latin Bible and KJV Bible and read Genesis 1 to 10 of both and see if they correlate properly.
 

Gregorius Textor

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So to truly answer if it is indeed translated properly would be if yourself or someone else of high Latin knowledge were to download the Latin Bible and KJV Bible and read Genesis 1 to 10 of both and see if they correlate properly.
By "it", in "if it is indeed translated properly", did you mean the KJV? If so, your method assumes that the Latin Bible is translated correctly. I'm pretty sure there are errors both in the KJV and in the traditional Latin Vulgate Bible.

As Terry S. mentioned, the best English companion for the Vulgate is the Douay-Rheims Bible, which was translated from the Vulgate.

The Nova Vulgata might also interest you. I think it corrects some errors, and therefore agrees better with more modern English translations (such as Revised Standard). According to Wikipedia, the style of the Nova Vulgata is "closer to classical Latin" (which, of course, does not mean that it is classical Latin).
 

Rudis

Member

Thank you for this. I downloaded the Nova Vulgate due to the closeness to classical Latin.

KarlaUK also made a good suggestion. Kinda like the Rosetta Stone of old.
 
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